Franklin Food Pantry - Fall Update

Fall is here and we have many invitations to share with you…

Whole Foods Market in Bellingham will be having its last Farmers Market of the season on Monday, September 26^th from 4pm – 7pm.  Whole Foods has generously offered to donate all of the proceeds from the outdoor grill station to the Franklin Community Garden!  So please consider grabbing dinner at the Farmers Market grill outside Whole Foods in Bellingham on Monday night.

Visit us at our booth at the Franklin Downtown Partnership Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 2nd from 11am - 4pm.  Our booth will be located in the Berry Insurance lot.  The Harvest Festival is a fun community event filled with great music, over 100 crafters, farmers market, children's activities and more.

Food donations for the Franklin Food Pantry will be accepted at the Franklin Library's semi-annual book sale held on Friday, October 14th from 4pm – 7pm and Saturday, October 15th from 9am – 4pm at the Franklin DPW Garage, Public Service Way off Hayward Street. Please consider donating from our current needs list below. 


Food donations for the Franklin Food Pantry will also be accepted at the Franklin Newcomers Craft Fair on Saturday, November 12th from 9am – 4pm at Tri-County High School, 147 Pond Street. Please consider donating from our current needs list below.

Thanks to the generosity of our community, we distributed more than 12,000 bags to more than 850 neighbors this past year, an increase of 26 percent. We received more than 83,000 lbs of donations from our community and picked up over 48,000 lbs from the Greater Boston Food Bank to help fill our shelves this past year. We distributed over 115,000 lbs during more than 6,300 visits, averaging 42 new clients each month. We are grateful for the 300+ volunteers who joined us to help us sort, check dates and stock our shelves with these community donations. 

Good food nourishes the body and the spirit. With regular, nutritious meals, we are free to grow, to think, to smile, to live. We aim to provide our clients with a wide range of opportunities for gaining access to local, fresh, nutritious food choices. Our first annual phone-a-thon successfully generated over $11,000 to help us increase our nutritious offerings. A Big Thank You to all of our Franklin neighbors for your support! 

We purchased 10 CSA Shares from Grateful Farm in Franklin and distributed free, fresh, local produce to clients every Saturday morning at the Pantry from 8am – 9am. 

Our Giving Garden located at the King Street Memorial Park Community Gardens is growing strong thanks to a wonderful team of volunteers. 

We are inviting all backyard gardeners to share any excess backyard produce with the Franklin Food Pantry through our Plant a Row program. Produce can be dropped off at the Pantry Tuesday thru Friday 9am – 1pm or Saturday mornings between 7:30 – 8am. 

Thanks to a grant received from the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation, we launched our Produce Points program at the Franklin Farmers Market on the Town Common every Friday from 12noon – 6pm through October 28th. If you know anyone who is receiving food stamps, please spread the word that we are doubling their money to spend at the Franklin Farmers Market every Friday. (i.e. if they want to spend $5 of SNAP benefits, we give them $10 to spend at the Market). Visit the Produce Points table at the Franklin Farmers Market to learn more.

Consider donating an item from our Fall Needs list below.  Donations can be dropped off at the Food Pantry (in Rockland Trust parking lot) Tuesdays - Fridays between 9am and 1pm or placed in our collection bin on our front porch anytime.  

If you prefer to write a check or donate online, remember our relationship with the Greater Boston Food Bank stretches monetary donations much further; $20 can provide up to 100 meals!  Every tax deductible donation helps us support more than 850 neighbors throughout the year.

Health and Beauty Products - Shampoo, Soap, Deodorant, Razors etc. Cleaning Products - Laundry, Dishwasher, All Purpose etc. Paper Products - Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels, Feminine etc. Baked Beans / Dry Beans Baking Mixes / Flour / Sugar Canned Meat / Fish Canned Pasta (chef boyardeeish) Cereal Coffee / Tea Flavored Rice and/or Pasta Side mixes Potatoes Soups / Stews / Broths Spices / Seasonings Fresh and Frozen Produce always welcome

September and October Volunteer opportunities:

Friday, Sept 23rd     3pm - 6pm (@ Franklin Farmers Market on Town Common)

Friday, Sept 30th     3pm - 6pm (@ Franklin Farmers Market on Town Common)

Wednesday, Oct 5th   1pm - 2pm (@ Food Pantry)

Friday, Oct 7th     3pm - 6pm (@ Franklin Farmers Market on Town Common)

Friday, Oct 14th    3pm - 6pm (@ Franklin Farmers Market on Town Common)

Wednesday, Oct 19th    11am - 12noon  (@ Food Pantry)

Friday, Oct 21st    3pm - 6pm (@ Franklin Farmers Market on Town Common)

Friday, Oct 28th    3pm - 6pm (@ Franklin Farmers Market on Town Common)

Saturday, Oct 29th     9:30am - 10:30am (@ Food Pantry)

Thank you for making a difference! 

Please forward to any friends or family who may be interested.


-- Anne Marie Bellavance
Franklin Food Pantry
43 West Central Street
PO Box 116
Franklin, MA  02038
(508) 528-3115

www.franklinfoodpantry.org


Note: for those who did receive the email version of this, I did remove the first three paragraphs as I am posting the letter too late for those to be of a help.